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In March, Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (ACPC) saw its best month for global downloads since its launch in 2017, at 2.7 million across Apple App Store and Google Play Store according to Priori Data.

There was a broad reduction in games-related acquisitions and funding rounds in Q1, which was largely fuelled by declining activity in China. The mobile games segment remained strong and represented the majority of deals, underlining the state of the global games market as mobile-first.

Tencent’s PUBG Mobile and Garena’s Free Fire were the clear success stories of the battle royale scene last year. According to Priori Data, these titles saw year-on-year growth of 436% and 280% respectively, whilst Epic Games’ Fortnite declined by 30%, and NetEase’s Knives Out by 13%. The sustained success of PUBG Mobile and Free Fire is a result of them establishing dedicated fan-bases in territories such as India, Brazil and Southeast Asia.

Square Enix’s mobile title Dragon Quest Walk generated upwards of $112m in net revenue in Q4 2019, according to Priori Data. It is only available in Japan, and provides credible competition for Pokémon GO in the region based on the strength of the Dragon Quest IP.

2019 saw the major Chinese companies truly establish themselves as competitors in the global market. According to Priori Data, Tencent saw international mobile games market growth of 278% in 2019, out-performing domestic rival NetEase.

In December 2019, Epic submitted Fortnite to be listed on the Play Store, on the condition that it could use its own payment platform and be exempt from Google’s 30 percent fee. Its submission was rejected by Google, who stated that it expects all developers to participate under the same terms.

Following its strongest quarter in Q2, the mobile battle royale segment outside of mainland China is showing signs of weariness. Both Fortnite and Knives Out declined quarter-on-quarter by -26% and -16% respectively. PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire – titles which are fuelled by less developed mobile games markets such as India and Brazil - grew at quite sedate rates of 3% and 10% respectively quarter-over-quarter.

During Riot Games’ League of Legends 10th anniversary celebratory stream, the company announced an unexpectedly large roster of new games and its expansion strategy for at least the next 3-5 years. For a company that has been built and focused on one title for a decade – albeit one that has generated $20 billion in revenues according to the company - this marks a major gear change in its ambitions.

The lucrative and established Japanese mobile games market is difficult to crack; partially due to the audience preference for domestic titles and publishers. NetEase, however, has recently found success there with a handful of standout titles, whilst Chinese competitor Tencent is nowhere to be found.

Tencent’s PUBG Mobile Lite, which is optimized for lower-end smartphones with limited storage, has been in testing in Brazil and the Philippines since late 2018. It was rolled out to further territories in July, including India, where it quickly topped the app download charts.

Tencent maintains its dominance as the highest-performing mobile games publisher according to Priori Data, with $256.8m in net revenue for July. The international version of PUBG Mobile represented $61.9m of this, demonstrating the benefits of Tencent’s recent push into overseas markets following the freeze on games approvals in China.

Playrix was the sixth highest-grossing mobile games publisher in Q2 2019, and one of only three European companies to make the top 10, alongside King and Supercell. According to Priori Data, the Russian developer has generated upwards of $2.3b in net revenue since 2016 through its catalogue of free-to-play mobile titles.

Coin Master, published by Israeli company Moon Active, has long been disrupting the social casino scene by offering a multi-layered, social experience. According to Priori Data, it has generated $197.5m in net revenue so far this year, with no signs of letting up. No other title in this genre has come close to Coin Master’s success, which is fuelled by Western markets. The USA, the UK and Germany combined account for 85% of net revenue – with the USA alone generating $116m year-to-date; a 59% overall share.

Despite the persistent Western aversion to mobile play amongst hardcore gamers, popular franchises continue to make their way to smartphones and AAA-publishers seem increasingly committed to the platform. The focus is on taking established IPs to mobile rather than creating entirely new brands; typically in tandem with a significant console or PC release to boost initial interest.

The Pro View service will be launched this Summer, and will be available for both the League of Legends League Championship Series (LCS) and the League European Championship (LEC). The key feature of the service allows spectators to switch between up to 10 individual player point-of-view streams during competitive matches.